About the High School Huddle

Welcome to the Citizen-Times' constantly-updated blog for Western North Carolina high school sports. Features include breaking news, scores and stats, college recruiting updates and live blogs from some of the marquee games in WNC. Readers are encouraged to comment on posts, but personal attacks on current athletes, coaches and their families will not be tolerated and are subject to edit or removal at the moderator's discretion.

Andrews football coach Dane Rickett is downright bubbly when it comes to talking about this year’s Wildcats.

The consensus around Cherokee County and beyond is that this is the most talented Andrews team since the school’s last winning season (8-5 in 1995) under current Tuscola coach Donnie Kiefer.

Quarterback Ian Curtis (1,734 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2010) and leading rusher Jordan Collins (2,030 yards, 22 touchdowns) are among 18 seniors on Andrews’ roster. Eric Arreaga was an all-conference defensive back in 2010.

“It’s just different around here,” Rickett said.

“From being a 1-9 or 0-10 team to the possibility of what we might do this year. We have 25 fans at practice now. People are coming to us wanting to advertise at games whereas we used to have to beat the pavement. (The attention) is fun mostly for the kids. I just hope we can live up to the hype.”

Smoky Mountain Conference coaches have picked Andrews to finish fourth out of seven teams in the 1-A league.

“It’s the first year in a long time where we haven’t been picked to finish last,” Rickett said.

“We scrimmaged Enka and Tuscola the other night and people were expecting us to wear them out. I said, ‘Are you crazy? It’s still Enka and Tuscola over there.’ But that’s how excited people are about this team.”

With a new school year upon us, please remember to call in your scores so we may share them with the rest of Western North Carolina. Scores may be called in to 232-5863, 5866 or 5867. Please do not leave scores on our voice-mail.

Former Roberson baseball star Chris Narveson now pitches for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Former Roberson baseball star Chris Narveson could shortly be back in the Milwaukee Brewers’ pitching rotation.

More from MLB.com:

MILWAUKEE — Left-hander Chris Narveson reported feeling no pain on Saturday while playing catch for the first time since slicing his left thumb with a pair of scissors, which caused him to be placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Team physician Dr. William Raasch instructed Narveson to bandage up the injured left thumb and try throwing.

“It actually wasn’t too bad,” Narveson said. “I had a protective little covering over it. I played catch, I didn’t really do anything crazy. It was a way to exercise the arm and keep in shape.”

Asheville High football coach Danny Wilkins and the Cougars open their season Friday at home against North Gaston.

The early Cougar gets the worm?

Actually, to hear Asheville High football coach Danny Wilkins tell it, chewing on a worm might be preferable to starting the season Friday at home against North Gaston.

Wilkins said it is the earliest that the Cougars have ever played a season opener, which includes his 12 years as coach. In the past, Asheville has practiced for an additional week while other Western North Carolina teams played endowment games.

“It’s too early,” Wilkins said.

“We looked for over a year to fill out four nonconference games and this came about in late May, so we took a look at it.”

The Cougars lost to North Gaston, 35-34, in the 2007 semifinals of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs, but the Wildcats have fallen on hard times since then – they went 0-11 in 2010.

Meanwhile, Asheville has continued to rattle off MAC championships – six straight and counting.

The Cougars and returning All-WNC selections Tysean Holloway and Brandon Williams scrimmaged two South Carolina teams (Byrnes and Daniel) last week.

“We saw two good football teams with a bunch of talented guys,” Wilkins said.

“It was certainly a challenge for us. We won’t see anyone on our schedule who is any better than what we saw last week. It exposed us pretty good and showed us our weaknesses.”

Barring a last-minute deal, Tuscola graduate Cody Stubbs expects to play at least one more year of college baseball at the University of North Carolina.

The Washington Nationals selected the 2008 Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year in the 14th round of June’s Major League Baseball draft. The MLB deadline for draft picks to sign is today.

“We haven’t heard anything from (the Nationals),” Stubbs said. “Obviously, if they call, we’ll listen to what they have to say.”

Stubbs batted .403 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs last spring for Walters State (Tenn.). He signed with Tennessee out of high school after being drafted by the Boston Red Sox.

Stubbs would be eligible for the draft again next year if he does not sign with Washington. He said he has always looked at the opportunity to play at UNC as a win-win scenario if negotiations with the Nationals did not pan out.

The Tar Heels advanced to the College World Series last season and are coached by Asheville native Mike Fox.

“Absolutely, I can’t wait to get down there,” Stubbs said. “It’s a great program and I’m excited.”

Roberson freshman Logan Allen, center, was named the MVP of the IMG Baseball Academy's 14 and under wood bat league on Saturday.

Roberson freshman Logan Allen ran out of arms and hands to carry all his winnings from Saturday’s awards ceremony for the IMG Baseball Academy’s 14 and under wood bat baseball league in Bradenton, Fla.

Allen was named the league’s most valuable player and pitcher as well as the MVP for his team, the Storm. The ninth grader also received a pair of plaques to recognize him for being named the IMG pitcher of the week twice.

Allen, 14, is a left-hander who throws a fastball, changeup, circle changeup and slurve. His fastball’s velocity has topped out at 82 miles per hour.

Allen was 3-0 with a save for the Storm (5-4). He had a 1.45 earned-run average and 29 strikeouts with 17 walks in 19.1 innings of work. He also batted .321 with five stolen bases.

The longest high school football winning streak in the nation (46 games) belongs to West Rowan.

More from The Charlotte Observer:

It’s just a number – 46 – but what it represents means everything to the West Rowan High football program.

That’s how many consecutive games the Falcons have won, the nation’s longest streak. West Rowan hasn’t lost since the second game of the 2008 season, and has won three consecutive N.C. 3A championships in the process.

And while this season brings new challenges to the Falcons – who have 11 starters back from last season’s 16-0 team, which beat Eastern Alamance 34-7 for the state title – the expectations remain the same. And they begin with that number: 46.